Its been a while since we have heard anything about the soon-to-be 5 year olds Tuan Tuan (M) and Yuan Yuan (F) of the Taipei Zoo in Taiwan.
Tuan's birthday is September 1, 2009 and Yuan's birthday is August 30, 2009. They have been adding alot of good information on their website about the characteristics of giant pandas. For example, did you know:
"The giant panda has a very large and strong bone structure, twice the density of similar animals, and especially massive in the head. Its powerful jaws and a total of 42 teeth including short and flat canine teeth, and enlarged and very broad premolars and molars are specifically designed to crush tough food sources such as the bamboo." - Taipei Zoo website
The photo below is one of Yang Yang from Zoo Atlanta, but you can see how large the molars are. Photo courtesy of Hammy15 of flickr.
And they answer a question many people ask about the coloration of the giant pandas;
Their Woolly black and white coat:
- Excellent camouflage in the snow, and insolates the giant panda from cold and wetness.
- The thick and short fur covered in oil helps the giant panda to stay warm and dry.
- Most importantly the striking color pattern serves as a clear visual signal, a message to other pandas to stay away or keep a distance to avoid a direct confrontation.
I am guessing they will have their own birthday celebration maybe on the same day as they are so close and we will see new photos of them at that time. In the meantime, here are a couple of videos that the zoo has on their website that shows them outside together.
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